How even a whitewash against Zimbabwe will not improve India's ODI ranking

Team India is currently ranked fourth in the ICC ODI rankings and even whitewashing Zimbabwe will not change that. India have 109 points right now, so if they win all the three matches on their tour of Zimbabwe, they will gain only a solitary point as the African nation is currently ranked at 11th place. The Men in Blue are five points ahead of Sri-Lanka and behind Australia(124 points), New Zealand(113) and South Africa(112).

If India go on to win the series 2-1, they’d drop one point which will take them to 108 while Zimbabwe would gain a point and move from 47 to 48. Moreover, India will be without Virat Kohli and will be fielding a relatively young squad, with new coach Sanjay Bangar coming in for the tour.

West Indies, who are ranked eighth in the rankings, would look to improve the gap between themselves and Pakistan, who are only one point behind. They are set to host leaders Australia and South Africa in a tri-series from June 3. Australia are 36 points ahead of West Indies, while South Africa are ahead by 24.

If West Indies win all the matches, they would get invaluable points, propelling them to 106 points from 88. If Australia don’t lose a single match, they will amass a total of five points, which will take them to an incredible 129.

If South Africa win all their matches, they can expect to gain around six points, taking them to 118. South Africa’s AB Be Villiers and West Indies’ Sunil Narine start the tri-series tournament as number one batsman and number one bowler respectively.

Virat Kohli, who is going to miss the tour is 75 points behind South Africa’s AB de Villiers. ABD’s teammates Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock are placed third and fourth respectively, divided only by three points.

Current world champions Australia, surprisingly have no player in the top 10, with Glen Maxwell the highest ranked Australian at 14th place, followed by fellow teammates, David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and George Bailey. These five batsmen are only divided by 13 points.

After Narine, Australian seamer Mitchell Starc is the second best bowler who starts in the tri-series. He last played an ODI against England in the year 2015 and starts the tournament 49 points behind leader Narine.

Shakib al Hasan from Bangladesh is the best all-rounder according to rankings, although Australian all-rounder James Faulkner, who is ranked fifth, would like to go as high as possible on the list as well.